Newz"We urge caution before drawing conclusions from today's reports that European diplomats were attacked by masked Israelis," the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement. Belgian foreign minister urges further EU sanctions and links attack to Israel’s ‘illegal settlement policy’Masked settlers attacked a group of European diplomats during a visit to the occupied West Bank on Saturday, Belgium’s foreign minister said, on a second day of high-profile assaults on Palestinians and others during the sensitive olive harvest.At least four people have been killed and more than 100 injured since the harvest began earlier this month, according to the Palestinian health ministry. Activists say Israeli authorities do little to stop attacks that involve weapons ranging from slingshots to guns.
An attack on Friday seriously injured a Washington Post photographer and others. In Saturday's attack in the village of Taybeh, settlers targeted Belgium's consul general, French and Polish diplomats and Catholic representatives, Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot said. JERUSALEM (AP) — Masked settlers attacked a group of European diplomats during a visit to the occupied West Bank on Saturday, Belgium’s foreign minister said, on a second day of high-profile assaults on Palestinians and others during the sensitive olive…
He linked the attack to what he called Israel’s “illegal settlement policy” and pledged to push for further European Union sanctions.Israeli authorities must protect Palestinians as the “occupying power,” Prevot added. “Impunity for violent settlers must end.”The attacks came less than two weeks before closely contested elections that could end Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s time in office. His government, the most nationalist and far-right in Israel’s history, faces domestic criticism over security failures and international criticism over the treatment of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.Israel’s military called Saturday’s attack on the diplomats a “severe act of violence,” but said the visit had not been coordinated with it and no soldiers were at the scene.Israeli police said they had opened an investigation.“The Israel Police condemns violence of any kind and will work to complete these investigations until everyone who took part in these cases is brought to justice,” the police statement said.“I strongly condemn the severe acts of violence by Israeli rioters,” Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on X, adding that his ministry was in contact with ambassadors from the countries concerned.
The West Bank has seen an especially violent olive harvest season as Israeli settlers try to physically stop Palestinians from gathering their crops. (EPA Images pic)RAMALLAH: Israeli settlers on Saturday attacked a convoy of European diplomats and beat up a visiting French mayor in an escalation of recent violence during the Palestinian olive harvest, witnesses and diplomats told AFP.Cars from the French, Belgian and Polish missions had brought diplomats to visit Taybeh, a largely Christian village in the occupied West Bank, when settlers descended to stop Palestinians from gathering olives, witnesses said.Masked settlers made aggressive statements towards the diplomats before kicking Bernard Baudoux, 78, the leftist mayor of the northern French town of Aulnoye-Aymeries, according to witnesses and diplomats who confirmed his identity.Video footage seen by AFP showed Baudoux, wearing a sash in the French tricolour, slumped on the ground against a car. Two people who spoke to him said that he was hurt but did not need to go to hospital.The West Bank has seen an especially violent olive harvest season as Israeli settlers try to physically stop Palestinians from gathering their crops.On Friday, settlers seriously injured an American photographer for The Washington Post as she covered the harvest, and last week settlers beat up an AFP photographer.The violence comes during the final days of an election campaign in which prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has championed settlers as he seeks their support in the upcoming poll.Israel quickly condemned the attack on the diplomatic convoy, in contrast to Netanyahu's response to the attack on the Washington Post photographer, in which he suggested that Palestinians or "far-left" activists shared blame."I strongly condemn the severe acts of violence by Israeli rioters," foreign minister Gideon Saar said.However, Saar also criticised the consulates, saying they did not coordinate the trip with the military.Israeli police said that they had launched an investigation."Efforts are underway to locate the victims, collect testimonies, and identify the suspects, with the aim of bringing them to justice," a police statement said.
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